Pumping apparatus



Aug. 17 1926. 1,596,630

A. L. SEGELHORST 1 PUMPING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 8. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N Trivenzion KL MJ 3 -$5M I k v aim/10 9,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 17 1926.

. A. L. SEGELHORST PUMPING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 8, 1924 will!!! .trllrfllrlll &

- t. 2??? 22m a duction industry. I

Patented Aug. 17,- 1 926.

UNITED STATES PATlSN T- OFFICE.

i Aueusr L. snennnonsr, or wnrrrrrxa, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR r0 STANDARD 01:.

COMPANY, or sAN rnA cIsco, CALIFORNIA, A coRronA'rIo or CALIFORNIA.

PUMPING APPAEATUS.

Application filed November of a long stroke, in increasing 'efliciency and decreasmg maintenance costs, on sucker rods and valves, are well known in the oil-pro- Another object of my invention is to pro- Vld a simpleapparatus, of comparatively small cost, which is adapted for use in connection with theordinary power equipment usually associated with oil wells, for both drilling and pumping. Thus my apparatus may be applied eitherto a new well or to one already on production, without necessitating the abandonment of'the installed machinery.- For example, I make use of the usual band. wheel shaft and crank for transmitting the 7 power to my apparatus, and-even the walking-beam may behtilized in a manner to be later described. I Other advantages of. my apparatusare that the power is applied gradually to the "sucker" rods, increasing from each end of the stroke to a maximum at the mid-stroke position, i thus minimizing the reversal strains; that "/the apparatus lends itself readily to the use of a counter-weight for ,partiall counter-balancing the sucker rods and we pump plunger that the power is applied to the sucker ro s in a truevertical direction, avoiding all bending of the polish. rod; and that simple Inean'sare-provided for automatically absorbing sudden strains, due 40 to sticking of the pu'nips, to prevent'damage to the workingparts Other objects-and advantages of ,myinventionwill be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof. .It is to be understood, however, that theform and construction of the apparatus herein illustrated and described may be varied, within the limits of'the claims here-l to appended, without departing from the spirit of the invention. v

With this in view a preferred embodiment ofmy invention ,will now be fully described apparatus.

'end of the band wheel shaft.

8, 1924. Serial No. 148,614.

with reference to the accompanying draw-' ings, wherein a 1 Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the complete Fig. 2 is a vertical section, enlarged, of the working cylinder. g

Fig. 3 is a vertical section, enlarged, of a preferred form of power cylinder.

Fig. 4. is a vertical section, enlarged, of .a modified form of power cylinder.

- In. the drawings, and referring for the l moment to Fig. 1 thereof, the reference numeral 1 designates the usual band wheel shaft, carrying the band-wheel 2 and being suitably mounted in its usual position above the derrick floor 3. It is understood that the band-wheel 2 is connected in the usual manner with an engine'or other source of power, not shown. 4 is the crank on the Said crank is connected by a crank-pin 5, with the'piston 6'of a pump cylinder 7. In its preferred form, as shown in Fig. 3, sa'id cylinder is mounted for oscillation at 8 upon a suitable support, which may be one of the sills or beams 3 of the derrick floor 3, and the piepin 5. The pump thus formed is single acting, the piston beingsuitably packed in the end of the cylinder, as shown at 9. A pet-cock 10 is entrapped air.

The function of the pump or power cylin-' ,ton 6 is directly connected with the crankprovided for the release of ton connected with the sucker rodsfof the well --pump.' This fluid is preferably a liquid; and may be water, oil, or any other power cylinder to the working suitable medium for transmitting power prises a barrel 11, Fig. 2, mounted within a tubularcasing or sleeve 12 and positioned in vertical alignment above the head 13, Fig. 1- of the well'casing." Said sleeve 12 is provided with alower removable section 14, which is preferably connected with the end of the sleeve12 is secured, as by means of hangers 16, to some suitable fixed supcasinghead 13 as indicated at 15A. The upper v port, which may conveniently be the end of the usual walking beam 17, said walking beam being fixed in position and resting upon the headache post 18. Theusual pitman rod is, of course, removed.

The polish rod 19, which, as usual, is connected at its lower end with the sucker rods (not shown), extends upwardly through suitable packing 20, Fig. 2, in the closed lower end 21 of the working cylinder, and is provided at its upper end with an eye 22, to which is secured a cable 23. Said cable passes up through the open upper end of said working cylinder, over a sheav'e 24, Fig. 1, mounted at the inner end of the .walking beam 17,. thence horizontally to another sheave 25 at "the outer end of said walking beam, and thence downwardlyito a counterweight 26 'slidably mounted upon suitable guides, one of which is shown at 27. A link and hook connection 28 is preferably provided in the cable 23, to permitthe ready disconnection of said counter-Weight when necessary. The counter-weightfis insufficient to completely balance the weight of the suck er rods and well pump plunger, so that said rods and plunger will always return by gravity to their lowermost position. h

A piston 29, Fig. 2-, is secured upon the polish rod 19 within theworking cylinder. Said piston may be of any suitable construction, but is here shown as comprising a series of cup leathers 3O separated by spacers 31, and is secured upon the rod 19 by a set screw 32, and provided with packing 33 to prevent leakage. As a further means of securing'said piston upon the rod 19, Tmay provide a clamp 34 and a spacer 35 extending up to the'eye 22 at the upper end of said rod. Access to said piston, for repair, can be had by removing the lower ,section 14 from the working cylinder, and there should be sufficient space-between said lower section 14 and the casing head 13 to ive access to the olish rod acking and 0 permit the usua clamps to e" applied to said rod when dismantling the working cylinder. The working fluid is transmitted from the pump or power cylinder 7 to' the working cylinder, and vice versa, by a pipe 36, Fig: 1.

The outlet of said pump cylinder is at its lower end, as at 37 Fig. 3, and leads through the hinge 8 and in the pipe 36 by a sw1vel joint 38. At its other end the pipe'36 is connected at 39, Figs. 1 and 2, with thelower .section 14. of the working cylinder, and the working fluid is thereby led into said cylin-- der below its piston, when said piston is at the lower end of its stroke. A pet-cock, in-- dicated at 40 in Fig.1, is provided in the power piston 6 to the working piston 29 by the column of liquid, so that, as the power piston moves down, the working piston moves up, and vice versa, the downward or return stroke of said working piston being caused by the weight of the sucker rods and the well pump plunger, assisted by the sucti'on' of the power piston. The two cylinders obviously have the same capacity, but by making the working cylinder longer and of less diameter than the power cylinder, the

sucker rods can be given a'relatively' long stroke as compared with the stroke of the band wheel crank pin 5. Thus the customary or existing band wheel assembly, with its short-throw crank, may be used to; produce a long stroke movement of the sucker rods.

To provide for filling the system with working fluid a stand-pipe 41, Fig. 1, is connected, through .a shut-off valve 42, with the pipe 36. Said stand-pipe, if wateris used for the working fluid, may have a connection (not shown) with a water supply system, or it may connect with any suitable reservoir or filling means, not shown, as desired, but said stand-pipe must be above the level of the top of the power cylinder or the bottom of entire system except a portion of "the air chamber 43, the pet-cocks 10 and 40 being opened to allow the escape of air from the pipe 41 through the valve 42, and fills the power and working cylinders respectively.

The 'fillingvalve 42 is then closed, and the power piston moved downwardly, to compress the air within the chamber 43 to the desired pressure, or until the working piston begins to lift. .The air chamber valve 44 is then closed, the power. piston raised again to I Q its upper position, and additional working fluid admitte'dvithi'ough the filling valve 42 t0 againfillthe cylinders and piping. Said filling valve is then closed, the air chamber 1 valve 44 is opened, and the system is ready for operation. By this means I avoid the necessity of supplying outside pressure to the air chamber 43, and yet can raise the pressure therein sufficiently to provide a cushion to prevent the working piston from pounding on.ithe bottom of its cylinder. As an additional precaution against such pounding, a cushioning spring 29', Fig. 2, me be provided at the. lowernd f the 4 piston 29- l s A safety storage tank 45 is also provided,

as shown in Fig. 1, capable of holding the entire amount of fluid containedv in the system. -Said tank is connected with the pipe 36 by two branches 46 and 47. In the former is an automatic relief or blow-off valve 48, andin the latter is a shut-off valve 49, which is normally closed. If the pressure in the system rises to an abnormal or dangerous point, due to sticking of the well pump plunger or other causes, the working fluid escapes through the automatic relief valve 48 and the branch 46 into the storage tank 45', thus preventing damage to the system. Said fluid may be used to refill the system, through the valve 49 and the branch 47 thus avoiding waste or loss of fluid.

In order to automatically compensate for the small amount of working fluid. that may escape past the pistons or packings or through other leaks during the operation of the apparatus, I provide a reservoir 50, Fig. 1, preferably adjacent to and supported by the working cylinder, and having a filling aperture or plug 51 and agauge glass 52. Connected with the lower end of said working cylinder is a mem er 53 having a. bore of two different diame ers as shown in Fig.

2, the larger end 54 being in communication with said working cylinder. A plunger 55, having end portions of different diameters corresponding to and fitting within said differential bores, is slidable therein and is normally retained by aspring 56 'at the end I of its travel nearest said working cylinder.

The smaller bore 57, which acts as a pump cylinder, is connected by a-pipe 58 and an inlet checkvalve 59 with the reservoir 50, as shown in Fig. 1, and by a pipe 60 and an outlet check-valve 61 with the lower portion.

of the Working cylinder, as shown in Fig. 2.

When the working fluid is put under pressure, to raise the working piston, the difierential piston or plunge-r 55 is forced outwardly, against the action of its spring. 56, and thereby pumps a small amount of working fluid into the system through the pipe 60, and when the pressure is reduced, on the down stroke of the working piston, said plunger 55. is returned by its spring 56, drawing a fresh charge of working fluid from the reservoir 50 into the smaller bore or cylinder 57, ready to be pumped into the system at the next pressure stroke. Thus at each up stroke of the working piston, a small amount ,of working fluid is forced into the system to replace that lost by leakage. To prevent an oversupply of fluid'in the system, with consequent blowing off of the automatic relief valve 48, a return connection 62, Fig. 1, of restricted capacity,-is made between the upper portion of the working cylinder'and the reservoir 50. This connection, which is uncovered by the working piston at the upper end of its stroke, not only allows any excess fluid to return to the auxiliary reservoir 50, but also serves to vary the length of stroke.

limit the upward movement of the working piston.

with an easily adjustable crank throw to In this modification, the power cylinder 63 is stationary, and secured to the derrick floor by any suitable means, notsho'wn. The pump or power piston 64 may be ofany suitable and well known type, the up-stroke being the power or compression stroke. Said piston is carried upon a rod 65, slidable in a comparatively long guide 66 in the upper cylinder head 67 and suitably packed as at 68. A connecting rod 69 connects said piston rod with a crank pin 70, which extends from a block 71 slidable radially in a slot 72 formed in a guide member 7 3secured to the usual, crank 74 in any suitable manner, as

v by means of a bolt 75. A screw 76, having a lock nut 77, is provided for holding the vblock 71 in its position and for adjusting previously described form. The outlet 78 of the cylinder 63 is at its top, and is connect- I ed directly with the pipe 36, no swivel cennection being needed. A valve controlled by-pass 79, to permit --the escape of entrapped air as' well as to allow the piston 64 to operate idly, may be provided if desired. Obviously, the crank throw adjusting means above described may be used witht-he form of power cylinder shown in Figs. 1 and 3, which has the advanta eof being capable of lying down flat upon the derrick floor out of the way, when it is necessary to use the band wheel shaft for other purposes.

It will be seen that my apparatus can be applied readily to existing well-rigs of the ordinary type, and when so installed, pro

rod. It should be noted,"moreover, that there are no valves in the pipe 36 connect:

a straight ing the power cylinder with the pumping cylinder, so. that there is a minimum number ofmoving parts to require attention or re-' pair;

1. In a well-pumping apparatus, 'a fluid power-transmitting system comprising a power cylinder, a' piston operable therein and connected with a source of power, a

working cylinder, a piston operable therein and connected with the well pump, and a connection wholly independent of the 'um ed well fluid for conducting the work- -1ng uid between said cylinders; a reservoir for containing an additional supply of workmg fluid; an .means for automatically supplying additional working fluid froin said reservoir to the system during its operation.

2. In a well-pumping apparatus, a fluid power-transmitting system comprising a power cylinder, a piston operable'therein and connected with a source of power, a working cylinder, a piston operable therein and connected with the well pump, and a connectionfor conducting the working fluid between said cylinders; a reservoir; means for automatically permitting the escape of the working fluid from the system into said reservoir under abnormal pressure conditions; and means for restoring said fluid from saidreservoirto said system at will.

3. In a well-pumping apparatus, a fluid power-transmitting system comprising a power cylinder,- a piston 0 erable therein and connected with a son cc of power, a

working cylinder, a piston operable tl1ere in and connected with the well pump, and

a connection for conducting the working fluid between said cylinders; means, fopintroducing fluid into said system; a pressure chamber connegted with said system; and a valve for closin the pressure chamber connection to trap t 'e pressure in said chamber.

4. In a well pumping apparatus, a working cylinder; a piston operable therein and connected with the well pump for operating the latter; means for supplying working fluid under fluctuating pressureto said cylinder to operate its piston; a reservoir adapt ed to contain an additional supply of the workin fluid; means for automatically supplying uid from said reservoir to the wor mg fluid system during its operation; and means for returning excess working fluid from the system to said reservoir.

' 5. In a well pipmping apparatus, a working cylinder; apiston operable therein and connected 'withthe well pump for operating the latter; means for supplying working fluid under fluctuating pressure to sad cylinder to o crate its piston; and an auXi iary pump in ependent of the working piston and operated by the pressure variations in the working fluid for supplying additional fluid to the working fluid system. a

' 6. In a well pumping apparatus, 'a work-- ing cylinder; a piston operable therein and connected with the well pump for operating the latter; means-for supplying working fluid underfluctuating pressure to said cylinder to operate its piston; an auxiliary fluid system; and means for ,operat-.

zontal position; a fluid pump connected with an operated by said band-wheel crank; ,a working cylinder positioned in alignment with the well-pump; a supporting connection between said cylinder and said walking beam; a piston operable in said cylinder and connected with the well-pump plunger; a

cable secifred to and extending upwardlyguide sheaves mounted from said piston; upon said walking cam 'for directing .the end portion of said cable downwardly; a movable counterweight secured to the down-' wardly directed end portion of said cable;

, and means for conducting the working fluid between said fluid pump and said working cylinder below its piston. whereof I have signed my 35 1 In testimony name to this specification.

' AUGUST L. ,SEGELHORST. 

